artist: CELER
title: Nacreous Clouds
catalog number: and/33
release year: 2008
format: CD
status: sold out
title: Nacreous Clouds
catalog number: and/33
release year: 2008
format: CD
status: sold out
Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), also known as "nacreous clouds", are
found in the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 metres
(50,000–80,000 ft). Due to their high altitude and the curvature of the surface of
the Earth, these clouds will receive sunlight from below the horizon and reflect
it to the ground, shining brightly well before dawn or after dusk. PSCs form at
very low temperatures, below −78 °C. These temperatures can occur in the
lower stratosphere in polar winter. In the Antarctic, temperatures below −88 °C
frequently cause type II PSCs. Such low temperatures are rarer in the Arctic.
Apart from arctic regions, PSCs have also been known to be seen in
Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska and Northern Canada. Sometimes, however, they
occur as far south as England.
This beautiful release features 37 short tracks of raw iridescent ambience
(total time exceeding 78 minutes) reflecting the hyper-temporal nature of what
are known as "nacreous clouds". And like the clouds, the tracks are quick to
appear and disappear. Playback using the random shuffle mode of your CD
player is highly recommended.
While this is undoubtedly an ambient release, it is unusual in that there are
many short tracks instead of one or two long ones, and each of the tracks is
notably "raw" in that they do not use additional processing like reverb to
enhance the initial processed sound sources further. This might prove to be a
challenge for those who prefer their ambience buried under a thousand pounds
of reverb, but it is not the intent of the artists or and/OAR to release "just
another ambient CD". Instead, we invite you to explore an alternative method
of rendering ambience in a way that is more immediate, therefore effecting the
listener's mind in a more personal and powerful way.
"We originally recorded ourselves playing instruments such as cello, violin,
piano and bells. We also made recordings of household sounds (such as
showers, running water in the sink, and television static), plus the wind
outside, beaches cars passing, walking on gravel streets, etc. Afterward we
went through everything, choosing specific parts in lengths ranging from 3
seconds to 3 minutes, and made tape loops of everything. At this point, we
arranged the different tape loops into patterns and speeds meant to resemble
the clouds and their actions as much as possible. When mixing the loops, we
played three to six of them at a time, on different reel-to-reel tape players
connected to both of our laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser filter."
(Celer)
Celer are the wife and husband duo of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long. After
releasing a rather prolific series of handcrafted self-released CDRs, 2008 has
seen a sudden flurry of CD releases on recording labels such as Spekk (with
Matthieu Ruhlmann), two releases on Infraction (with a possible third to
come?), plus and/OAR.
Danielle Baquet -Long is a teacher of special education and music therapy, a
seasoned and published writer of poetry and prose, a painter, multi-
instrumentalist and vocalist, also recording under the project name of Chubby
Wolf. She has an extensive background in Gender Studies, Education, Basque
History, Photography, and Tibetan Studies, as well as having lived in India,
Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the United States.
Will Long also works in education, and is a published writer of fiction, non-
fiction, and poetry, with degrees from two universities in English and History,
and with a background in Creative Writing, Philosophy, and Literature. He is
also an instrumentalist, interested in finding a meeting place through music
between the analog and digital world, through field recordings, custom
software, arrangements, and concepts. He first began experimenting with
sound at age 4, making 'unsynchronized tape loops' by recording fragments of
pleasant tones from records and films onto audio cassettes, rewinding,
recording again, and repeating the process until the tape was filled up.
During Will and Dani's time together, they have produced numerous custom,
handmade self-releases, sound for installations and art exhibitions, as well as
creating works for independent labels in North America, Japan, and Europe.
Their intent is producing works that reflect the nature of love, family, and their
concerns and interests, through a relative and absolute symposium of
expression.
found in the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 metres
(50,000–80,000 ft). Due to their high altitude and the curvature of the surface of
the Earth, these clouds will receive sunlight from below the horizon and reflect
it to the ground, shining brightly well before dawn or after dusk. PSCs form at
very low temperatures, below −78 °C. These temperatures can occur in the
lower stratosphere in polar winter. In the Antarctic, temperatures below −88 °C
frequently cause type II PSCs. Such low temperatures are rarer in the Arctic.
Apart from arctic regions, PSCs have also been known to be seen in
Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska and Northern Canada. Sometimes, however, they
occur as far south as England.
This beautiful release features 37 short tracks of raw iridescent ambience
(total time exceeding 78 minutes) reflecting the hyper-temporal nature of what
are known as "nacreous clouds". And like the clouds, the tracks are quick to
appear and disappear. Playback using the random shuffle mode of your CD
player is highly recommended.
While this is undoubtedly an ambient release, it is unusual in that there are
many short tracks instead of one or two long ones, and each of the tracks is
notably "raw" in that they do not use additional processing like reverb to
enhance the initial processed sound sources further. This might prove to be a
challenge for those who prefer their ambience buried under a thousand pounds
of reverb, but it is not the intent of the artists or and/OAR to release "just
another ambient CD". Instead, we invite you to explore an alternative method
of rendering ambience in a way that is more immediate, therefore effecting the
listener's mind in a more personal and powerful way.
"We originally recorded ourselves playing instruments such as cello, violin,
piano and bells. We also made recordings of household sounds (such as
showers, running water in the sink, and television static), plus the wind
outside, beaches cars passing, walking on gravel streets, etc. Afterward we
went through everything, choosing specific parts in lengths ranging from 3
seconds to 3 minutes, and made tape loops of everything. At this point, we
arranged the different tape loops into patterns and speeds meant to resemble
the clouds and their actions as much as possible. When mixing the loops, we
played three to six of them at a time, on different reel-to-reel tape players
connected to both of our laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser filter."
(Celer)
Celer are the wife and husband duo of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long. After
releasing a rather prolific series of handcrafted self-released CDRs, 2008 has
seen a sudden flurry of CD releases on recording labels such as Spekk (with
Matthieu Ruhlmann), two releases on Infraction (with a possible third to
come?), plus and/OAR.
Danielle Baquet -Long is a teacher of special education and music therapy, a
seasoned and published writer of poetry and prose, a painter, multi-
instrumentalist and vocalist, also recording under the project name of Chubby
Wolf. She has an extensive background in Gender Studies, Education, Basque
History, Photography, and Tibetan Studies, as well as having lived in India,
Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the United States.
Will Long also works in education, and is a published writer of fiction, non-
fiction, and poetry, with degrees from two universities in English and History,
and with a background in Creative Writing, Philosophy, and Literature. He is
also an instrumentalist, interested in finding a meeting place through music
between the analog and digital world, through field recordings, custom
software, arrangements, and concepts. He first began experimenting with
sound at age 4, making 'unsynchronized tape loops' by recording fragments of
pleasant tones from records and films onto audio cassettes, rewinding,
recording again, and repeating the process until the tape was filled up.
During Will and Dani's time together, they have produced numerous custom,
handmade self-releases, sound for installations and art exhibitions, as well as
creating works for independent labels in North America, Japan, and Europe.
Their intent is producing works that reflect the nature of love, family, and their
concerns and interests, through a relative and absolute symposium of
expression.
SMALLFISH (SEPTEMBER 2008)
An utterly enchanting release from and/OAR which sees the husband and wife
team of Dani Baquet-Long and Will long delivering what can only be called a
magical series of ambient works. Using a wide range of original sound
recordings including live instruments and environmental sounds the tracks
are then built up using layering and filtering to create the dream-like, drifting
final pieces. Meant to be an aural representation of the nacreous clouds from
the title there's a loving and gentle touch here and it's interesting that the final
product features lots of shorter tracks rather than the more standard three of
four long ones. I for one believe it works exactly as intended and to experience
the entire CD in one 78 minute sitting is the best way to enjoy it. Warm, yet
distant and full of natural sounding beauty this is a release to treasure.
Highly recommended. (Mike Oliver)
An utterly enchanting release from and/OAR which sees the husband and wife
team of Dani Baquet-Long and Will long delivering what can only be called a
magical series of ambient works. Using a wide range of original sound
recordings including live instruments and environmental sounds the tracks
are then built up using layering and filtering to create the dream-like, drifting
final pieces. Meant to be an aural representation of the nacreous clouds from
the title there's a loving and gentle touch here and it's interesting that the final
product features lots of shorter tracks rather than the more standard three of
four long ones. I for one believe it works exactly as intended and to experience
the entire CD in one 78 minute sitting is the best way to enjoy it. Warm, yet
distant and full of natural sounding beauty this is a release to treasure.
Highly recommended. (Mike Oliver)
TEXTURA (NOVEMBER 2008)
Married couple and alchemists extraordinaire Danielle Baquet-Long and Will
Long (aka Celer) repeatedly demonstrate the uncanny ability to take virtually
any source material and spin it into aural gold. The duo's and/OAR release
Nacreous Clouds, for instance, presents seventy-eight minutes of thirty-seven
miniatures (the longest four minutes, the shortest an 8.5 second-long voice
sample that's jarring for being so unexpected and incongruous) that aspire to
capture the "hyper-temporal nature" of said clouds which are distinguished
from other clouds in a couple of key respects: nacreous clouds—also known
as polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs)—reside in the winter polar stratosphere
at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 metres (50,000–80,000 ft.) and, due to their high
altitude and the curvature of the Earth's surface of the, receive sunlight from
below the horizon and reflect it to the ground, shining brightly well before dawn
or after dusk.
The production method adopted by the group is pure Celer: the partners first
recorded themselves playing cello, violin, piano and bells, supplemented that
material with field recordings (showers, sink water, television static, wind, car
noises, etc.), and generated tape loops from selected bits which were then
arranged into patterns and speeds that would resemble the clouds and their
movements. The coup de grace(?): "When mixing the loops, (they) played three
to six of them at a time, on different reel-to-reel tape players connected to both
of (their) laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser filter." Finally, Celer
opted to leave the resultant material in a "raw" state by not enhancing the
tracks with reverb, a move that imbues the material with a pristine purity.
Adding to that quality is the fact that, though a rich range of source elements
was used to produce them, the resultant material has been cleansed of
identifiably associative characteristics and, consequently, each iridescent,
quietly shimmering piece, reduced to its purest essence, floats peacefully
through the stereo field, coming into view quickly and disappearing just as
fast. In general, the mood is tranquil and the cumulative effect calming, even if
some "clouds" drift more quietly than others.
If ever a recording was tailor-made for random shuffle, it's Nacreous Clouds—
even titling the tracks vividly as Celer has done (e.g., "Passing Hills and Still
Windmills," "Voiceless Devilfish") seems an extravagance when they could
just as reasonably be named "Nacreous Clouds I," "Nacreous Clouds II," and
so on. The recording, like virtually all of Celer's output, invites immersion and
promotes the experience of temporal suspension.
Married couple and alchemists extraordinaire Danielle Baquet-Long and Will
Long (aka Celer) repeatedly demonstrate the uncanny ability to take virtually
any source material and spin it into aural gold. The duo's and/OAR release
Nacreous Clouds, for instance, presents seventy-eight minutes of thirty-seven
miniatures (the longest four minutes, the shortest an 8.5 second-long voice
sample that's jarring for being so unexpected and incongruous) that aspire to
capture the "hyper-temporal nature" of said clouds which are distinguished
from other clouds in a couple of key respects: nacreous clouds—also known
as polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs)—reside in the winter polar stratosphere
at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 metres (50,000–80,000 ft.) and, due to their high
altitude and the curvature of the Earth's surface of the, receive sunlight from
below the horizon and reflect it to the ground, shining brightly well before dawn
or after dusk.
The production method adopted by the group is pure Celer: the partners first
recorded themselves playing cello, violin, piano and bells, supplemented that
material with field recordings (showers, sink water, television static, wind, car
noises, etc.), and generated tape loops from selected bits which were then
arranged into patterns and speeds that would resemble the clouds and their
movements. The coup de grace(?): "When mixing the loops, (they) played three
to six of them at a time, on different reel-to-reel tape players connected to both
of (their) laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser filter." Finally, Celer
opted to leave the resultant material in a "raw" state by not enhancing the
tracks with reverb, a move that imbues the material with a pristine purity.
Adding to that quality is the fact that, though a rich range of source elements
was used to produce them, the resultant material has been cleansed of
identifiably associative characteristics and, consequently, each iridescent,
quietly shimmering piece, reduced to its purest essence, floats peacefully
through the stereo field, coming into view quickly and disappearing just as
fast. In general, the mood is tranquil and the cumulative effect calming, even if
some "clouds" drift more quietly than others.
If ever a recording was tailor-made for random shuffle, it's Nacreous Clouds—
even titling the tracks vividly as Celer has done (e.g., "Passing Hills and Still
Windmills," "Voiceless Devilfish") seems an extravagance when they could
just as reasonably be named "Nacreous Clouds I," "Nacreous Clouds II," and
so on. The recording, like virtually all of Celer's output, invites immersion and
promotes the experience of temporal suspension.
TANNER MENARD BLOG (DECEMBER 2008)
Two is a good number in art. When things happen in two, then you can
be assured that some sort of order will be inherent in the system, and
that change will happen. I have worked with and befriended a number of
creative twosomes, but none so talented and well presented as Will
Thomas Long and Danielle Baquet-Long. Their self described sound,
visual, literary, and artistic endeavor working under the moniker 'Celer' is
making waves in the ambient music scene. I remember the first night that I
heard the music of Celer. It was early in the summer of 2007, in the mission
district of San Francisco, and I came across their Archaic Horizon release
'Arriil'. Slightly inebriated, I sat transfixed as the sound, a single line gradually
unfolded like a Rosicrucian flower into a dense world of sonic variation. It was
as if I had come across a new aesthetic raison d'être. Admittedly, that night
changed the course of my musical life, taking me in a powerful new direction
away from noise, towards a music of stillness, beauty and romanticism.
Recently Will and Dani mailed a copy of their newly released album 'Nacreous
Clouds', a piece that I had listened to with great delight over the course of the
last year in MP3 format. Of all their work, this album, beautifully released on
Dale Lloyd's influential and/OAR label, and its sister album, the self-released
'Neon', are cornerstone pieces of a new aesthetic voice in experimental and
ambient music.
Like the rare polar stratospheric clouds which inspire this work, this piece
fades into the lexicon of music that is hardly noticed, but exists in such great
beauty that those who come across it are left in awe at its subtle glow. I am
reminded of something I read once by Morton Feldman in his essay 'A Life
without Bach or Beethoven.' "A man visiting Diego Rivera once expressed
surprise to fine Miro, Arp and other abstract painters on the walls of Mexico's
great social realist. Rivera replied, 'Those paintings are for me' this is my
feeling about Christian Wolfe." This is how 'Nacreous Clouds' is for me. It is
perfectly invisible music. Like Barnet Newman's line, a perfect nothing, and yet
somehow, I let myself believe that the universe let Will and Dani create this
music just for my ears, just to inspire my own barely audible vision. What I
love most about Celer is the poetic mystery that shrouds their work. I once
heard Terence Mckenna speaking about the power of words, he suggested that
under the influence of DMT a species of multi-dimensional creatures began
telling him that words bring existence into being, you remember the line from
the bible 'and in the beginning was the word.' If that's true, then could it be that
the poet is the ultimate sculptor of reality? In the case of Celer, one can never
dismiss the creative impulse of the poetry that underlies their brilliant music. It
is the poetry from whence this great work is brought into being. Somehow
these works remind me a bit of William Blake. Finely crafted small works of
romanticism, packaged gingerly in simplistic naturalism. The work of a master
craftsmen full of universal love. Just yesterday I asked Will to say a few words
about Blake and he responded, 'A friend of mine used to love Blake. I think he
still does. He used to get inspired by reading Blake, and write poems, then
burn them, leaving ashes all over my driveway.' Somehow I feel that this is me
in the wake of this powerful music.
Two is a good number in art. When things happen in two, then you can
be assured that some sort of order will be inherent in the system, and
that change will happen. I have worked with and befriended a number of
creative twosomes, but none so talented and well presented as Will
Thomas Long and Danielle Baquet-Long. Their self described sound,
visual, literary, and artistic endeavor working under the moniker 'Celer' is
making waves in the ambient music scene. I remember the first night that I
heard the music of Celer. It was early in the summer of 2007, in the mission
district of San Francisco, and I came across their Archaic Horizon release
'Arriil'. Slightly inebriated, I sat transfixed as the sound, a single line gradually
unfolded like a Rosicrucian flower into a dense world of sonic variation. It was
as if I had come across a new aesthetic raison d'être. Admittedly, that night
changed the course of my musical life, taking me in a powerful new direction
away from noise, towards a music of stillness, beauty and romanticism.
Recently Will and Dani mailed a copy of their newly released album 'Nacreous
Clouds', a piece that I had listened to with great delight over the course of the
last year in MP3 format. Of all their work, this album, beautifully released on
Dale Lloyd's influential and/OAR label, and its sister album, the self-released
'Neon', are cornerstone pieces of a new aesthetic voice in experimental and
ambient music.
Like the rare polar stratospheric clouds which inspire this work, this piece
fades into the lexicon of music that is hardly noticed, but exists in such great
beauty that those who come across it are left in awe at its subtle glow. I am
reminded of something I read once by Morton Feldman in his essay 'A Life
without Bach or Beethoven.' "A man visiting Diego Rivera once expressed
surprise to fine Miro, Arp and other abstract painters on the walls of Mexico's
great social realist. Rivera replied, 'Those paintings are for me' this is my
feeling about Christian Wolfe." This is how 'Nacreous Clouds' is for me. It is
perfectly invisible music. Like Barnet Newman's line, a perfect nothing, and yet
somehow, I let myself believe that the universe let Will and Dani create this
music just for my ears, just to inspire my own barely audible vision. What I
love most about Celer is the poetic mystery that shrouds their work. I once
heard Terence Mckenna speaking about the power of words, he suggested that
under the influence of DMT a species of multi-dimensional creatures began
telling him that words bring existence into being, you remember the line from
the bible 'and in the beginning was the word.' If that's true, then could it be that
the poet is the ultimate sculptor of reality? In the case of Celer, one can never
dismiss the creative impulse of the poetry that underlies their brilliant music. It
is the poetry from whence this great work is brought into being. Somehow
these works remind me a bit of William Blake. Finely crafted small works of
romanticism, packaged gingerly in simplistic naturalism. The work of a master
craftsmen full of universal love. Just yesterday I asked Will to say a few words
about Blake and he responded, 'A friend of mine used to love Blake. I think he
still does. He used to get inspired by reading Blake, and write poems, then
burn them, leaving ashes all over my driveway.' Somehow I feel that this is me
in the wake of this powerful music.
BRAIN DEAD ETERNITY (DECEMBER 2008)
“Nacreous clouds” is just another definition for “Polar stratospheric clouds” or PSCs,
whose abnormal shining occurs before dawn or after dusk due to the sunlight
received from beyond the horizon, a luminosity that is also reflected to the ground
in those circumstances. To sonically represent this phenomenon, Will Thomas
Long and Dani Baquet-Long recorded several segments of music and human
activity, either by playing regular instruments (cello, violin, piano and bells) or
aptly described “household sounds” (water, TV static, etc.) together with “classic”
field recordings. Afterwards, they made tape loops of the whole, setting the
playback at various speeds in different combinations, the results processed by
laptops and “channelled back out into a Kaiser filter”.
If you think that it’s possible to detect even a slight particle of the above
mentioned sources while listening to this CD you’re completely wrong, as the 37
pieces forming this malleable architecture – improvable by shuffling the tracks
according to the composers – are short glimpses of a state of conscious stupor that
renders this work, in all probability, the best Celer album I’ve had the opportunity
to enjoy. The “raw iridescent ambience” depiction used in the press release is a
good one: umbrageous entities, whispered amorphousness, sudden
disappearances and somnolent reminiscences are all part of a same mental
condition, the nerves receiving a much needed rubdown that transforms a latent
tenseness into a resinous melancholy. Goodbye to vigilance, welcome to inside
responsiveness. A fine paradigm of contemporary ambient at low volume, but also
an exciting titillation of particular frequencies as the mixture is left free to reveal
its stifled resonances more deliberately. (Massimo Ricci)
“Nacreous clouds” is just another definition for “Polar stratospheric clouds” or PSCs,
whose abnormal shining occurs before dawn or after dusk due to the sunlight
received from beyond the horizon, a luminosity that is also reflected to the ground
in those circumstances. To sonically represent this phenomenon, Will Thomas
Long and Dani Baquet-Long recorded several segments of music and human
activity, either by playing regular instruments (cello, violin, piano and bells) or
aptly described “household sounds” (water, TV static, etc.) together with “classic”
field recordings. Afterwards, they made tape loops of the whole, setting the
playback at various speeds in different combinations, the results processed by
laptops and “channelled back out into a Kaiser filter”.
If you think that it’s possible to detect even a slight particle of the above
mentioned sources while listening to this CD you’re completely wrong, as the 37
pieces forming this malleable architecture – improvable by shuffling the tracks
according to the composers – are short glimpses of a state of conscious stupor that
renders this work, in all probability, the best Celer album I’ve had the opportunity
to enjoy. The “raw iridescent ambience” depiction used in the press release is a
good one: umbrageous entities, whispered amorphousness, sudden
disappearances and somnolent reminiscences are all part of a same mental
condition, the nerves receiving a much needed rubdown that transforms a latent
tenseness into a resinous melancholy. Goodbye to vigilance, welcome to inside
responsiveness. A fine paradigm of contemporary ambient at low volume, but also
an exciting titillation of particular frequencies as the mixture is left free to reveal
its stifled resonances more deliberately. (Massimo Ricci)
VITAL WEEKLY (SEPTEMBER 2008)
Highly ambient loops are created to make the music. It's played by cello, violin,
piano, bells but also household sounds, the wind, walking gravel streets and
such like, but if you wouldn't know this, you could as easily mistake this for a
bunch of slow arpeggio's played on an analogue synthesizer. But it's not. Celer
created loops of everything and playing three to six on their reel-to-reel
recorders, 'connected to both our laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser
filter', they say. Perhaps the 'Kaiser filter' makes that these thirty- seven (!!)
tracks sound quite similar with sonic differences to be spotted through a
microscope. It moves like the clouds, like those mentioned in the title, which
occur in winter time. Not entirely winter time here (will it ever be again?) yet,
and not many clouds on a beautiful autumn day (my kind of weather), but if I
would open up a window things would certainly get chilly in here, and this
could be a great sound track. Beautiful examples of somewhat darker ambient
music. (Frans De Waard)
Highly ambient loops are created to make the music. It's played by cello, violin,
piano, bells but also household sounds, the wind, walking gravel streets and
such like, but if you wouldn't know this, you could as easily mistake this for a
bunch of slow arpeggio's played on an analogue synthesizer. But it's not. Celer
created loops of everything and playing three to six on their reel-to-reel
recorders, 'connected to both our laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser
filter', they say. Perhaps the 'Kaiser filter' makes that these thirty- seven (!!)
tracks sound quite similar with sonic differences to be spotted through a
microscope. It moves like the clouds, like those mentioned in the title, which
occur in winter time. Not entirely winter time here (will it ever be again?) yet,
and not many clouds on a beautiful autumn day (my kind of weather), but if I
would open up a window things would certainly get chilly in here, and this
could be a great sound track. Beautiful examples of somewhat darker ambient
music. (Frans De Waard)
LOOP (DECEMBER 2008)
La música de Celer me hace pensar, observar la naturaleza que, en este caso
es un austero jardín. El sol pronto se va a disipar entre los edificios de
Santiago… Los loops fluyen en la atmósfera uniendo sonidos analógicos y
digitales, como si fueran ondas que van y vienen. Es el paisaje sonoro
perfecto para ver o imaginar las nacaradas nubes que son un fenómeno que
se da en el invierno polar, especialmente en el Antártico, en donde se
experimentan temperaturas de 78° grados bajo cero. Estos drones sonoros
fueran hechos originalmente por un cello, violín, piano y campanillas además
de registros de campo, cuyos sonidos son puestos en cintas que son tocadas
al unísono y luego procesadas por el laptop. Celer está compuesto por Will
Thomas Long y Danielle Baquet-Long, ambos escritores y educadores quienes
residen en el norte de California. (Guillermo Escudero)
La música de Celer me hace pensar, observar la naturaleza que, en este caso
es un austero jardín. El sol pronto se va a disipar entre los edificios de
Santiago… Los loops fluyen en la atmósfera uniendo sonidos analógicos y
digitales, como si fueran ondas que van y vienen. Es el paisaje sonoro
perfecto para ver o imaginar las nacaradas nubes que son un fenómeno que
se da en el invierno polar, especialmente en el Antártico, en donde se
experimentan temperaturas de 78° grados bajo cero. Estos drones sonoros
fueran hechos originalmente por un cello, violín, piano y campanillas además
de registros de campo, cuyos sonidos son puestos en cintas que son tocadas
al unísono y luego procesadas por el laptop. Celer está compuesto por Will
Thomas Long y Danielle Baquet-Long, ambos escritores y educadores quienes
residen en el norte de California. (Guillermo Escudero)
TOKAFI (JANUARY 2009)
Nacreous Clouds germinate in the polar winter of skies draped across Alaska,
Iceland, Scandinavia, Northern Canada and, most notably, the Antarctic.
Tokens of these rare cloud types, these mother of pearls, are wrung from
household objects and natural instruments such as cello, violin, piano and
bells on this, Celer's first contribution to the and/Oar catalogue.
In a space of seventy some odd minutes, thirty-seven small tracks appear -
made up of processed tape loops - and are generally rigorous, moving and yet
clear-eyed. The filmy sheets are delicately poised as they curl and uncurl,
stretch and contract, almost mimicking the way in which these clouds tend to
reveal the wind and the waves of the stratosphere. Perhaps not surprisingly,
the speed of the pieces changes like small spasms and the odd work ascends
higher or lower than the majority of others.
During tracks like "Swarms Of Orange" and "Seeing; That Side Of Teaching",
furthermore, there is noticeable emphasis on vivid and slowly shifting
iridescent colors. It's real music for synaesthetes, for whom the hue of a note
or chord is not a metaphorical device but an objective fact. Sans reverb and
other such processing techniques, these pieces manage to strike at the
emotional registers with some immediacy. (Max Schaefer)
Nacreous Clouds germinate in the polar winter of skies draped across Alaska,
Iceland, Scandinavia, Northern Canada and, most notably, the Antarctic.
Tokens of these rare cloud types, these mother of pearls, are wrung from
household objects and natural instruments such as cello, violin, piano and
bells on this, Celer's first contribution to the and/Oar catalogue.
In a space of seventy some odd minutes, thirty-seven small tracks appear -
made up of processed tape loops - and are generally rigorous, moving and yet
clear-eyed. The filmy sheets are delicately poised as they curl and uncurl,
stretch and contract, almost mimicking the way in which these clouds tend to
reveal the wind and the waves of the stratosphere. Perhaps not surprisingly,
the speed of the pieces changes like small spasms and the odd work ascends
higher or lower than the majority of others.
During tracks like "Swarms Of Orange" and "Seeing; That Side Of Teaching",
furthermore, there is noticeable emphasis on vivid and slowly shifting
iridescent colors. It's real music for synaesthetes, for whom the hue of a note
or chord is not a metaphorical device but an objective fact. Sans reverb and
other such processing techniques, these pieces manage to strike at the
emotional registers with some immediacy. (Max Schaefer)
AQUARIUS RECORDS (SEPTEMBER 2008)
Celer is the husband and wife team of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long, who
currently reside somewhere down on the Southern California coast. They've
released a handful of well-received ambient recordings on Spekk and
Infraction, and they've found a good home on and/OAR for this driftscape of
tapeloop interplay. As for the title, a nacreous cloud is found in the upper
regions of the atmosphere at the polar regions. Well past sunset and well
before sunrise, these clouds showcase a radiant brightness against an
otherwise darkened sky; and it's this particular phenomenon that forms the
inspiration for Celer's album of the same name. Having stretched the tones of
various instruments into languid looping drones and bliss-out ambience, Celer
presents 37 short tracks which actually work really well as a single
composition, given the gentle flutter and restrained attack from all of their
sounds. References abound to William Basinski's ambient work, Aidan Baker's
soft focus facets, and of course the seminal work of Brian Eno.
Celer is the husband and wife team of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long, who
currently reside somewhere down on the Southern California coast. They've
released a handful of well-received ambient recordings on Spekk and
Infraction, and they've found a good home on and/OAR for this driftscape of
tapeloop interplay. As for the title, a nacreous cloud is found in the upper
regions of the atmosphere at the polar regions. Well past sunset and well
before sunrise, these clouds showcase a radiant brightness against an
otherwise darkened sky; and it's this particular phenomenon that forms the
inspiration for Celer's album of the same name. Having stretched the tones of
various instruments into languid looping drones and bliss-out ambience, Celer
presents 37 short tracks which actually work really well as a single
composition, given the gentle flutter and restrained attack from all of their
sounds. References abound to William Basinski's ambient work, Aidan Baker's
soft focus facets, and of course the seminal work of Brian Eno.
SOUNDSCAPING (JANUARY 2009)
Mysterious, cloud formations take shape in Celer’s new ambient album.
To start off, this album reminds me of one of Information’s old ambient
recordings; their follow-up Successor which comprised 90-something bits and
pieces with the simple instructions in the back to press random, then play,
then sit back and enjoy. Such is the statement issued before-hand by Celer too
regarding their album, Nacreous Clouds; their ambient journey plays just as
well in sequence as jumbled up in random order, so naturally I was intrigued
and have listened through in various orders in addition to the traditional track
order.
A little background on Celer first though; some may recall them as half of the
force behind the Mesoscaphe album reviewed here at Soundscaping earlier in
2008 (ed. to which a highly anticipated follow-up is being worked upon). The
duo is California-based husband and wife, Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long;
both teachers in education, the former also a published writer and
instrumentalist into field recordings and sound experiments. The latter works
in special education and music therapy, and is specialised in a multitude of
disciplines as well as a seasoned globe-trotter from long stays abroad.
Personalia aside, Nacreous Clouds delivers on both accounts; played
chronologically and in random order, and is an absolutely sublime piece of
ambient music. Will & Dani use sounds from piano, cello, bells, violins and
field recordings and computers to process until the boundaries of each
constituent instrument disappear and the result is just a lovely, floating stream
of unassuming, non-pretentious sound. Soothing compositions of anything from
half a minute and up to longer drones at five minutes all contribute to a holistic
feeling of something serene and beautiful, like slowly developing clouds that
form a shape then disperse and take on a different appearance, holding each
shape for a limited time but all the while captivating to the listener, like the sky
when you witness the phenomenon of mother of pearl clouds. The music is
moving and restrained, sometimes growing in force then retracting, but never
with elements that break the conformity of the entire composition. In this way,
Celer have produced an indispensable collection of ambient soundscapes that
flow seamlessly and would be ideal for home listening as a supplement to
relaxation. If you are looking for an ambient album from 2008, look no further
than Nacreous Clouds on the influential and/OAR label. (Trym)
Mysterious, cloud formations take shape in Celer’s new ambient album.
To start off, this album reminds me of one of Information’s old ambient
recordings; their follow-up Successor which comprised 90-something bits and
pieces with the simple instructions in the back to press random, then play,
then sit back and enjoy. Such is the statement issued before-hand by Celer too
regarding their album, Nacreous Clouds; their ambient journey plays just as
well in sequence as jumbled up in random order, so naturally I was intrigued
and have listened through in various orders in addition to the traditional track
order.
A little background on Celer first though; some may recall them as half of the
force behind the Mesoscaphe album reviewed here at Soundscaping earlier in
2008 (ed. to which a highly anticipated follow-up is being worked upon). The
duo is California-based husband and wife, Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long;
both teachers in education, the former also a published writer and
instrumentalist into field recordings and sound experiments. The latter works
in special education and music therapy, and is specialised in a multitude of
disciplines as well as a seasoned globe-trotter from long stays abroad.
Personalia aside, Nacreous Clouds delivers on both accounts; played
chronologically and in random order, and is an absolutely sublime piece of
ambient music. Will & Dani use sounds from piano, cello, bells, violins and
field recordings and computers to process until the boundaries of each
constituent instrument disappear and the result is just a lovely, floating stream
of unassuming, non-pretentious sound. Soothing compositions of anything from
half a minute and up to longer drones at five minutes all contribute to a holistic
feeling of something serene and beautiful, like slowly developing clouds that
form a shape then disperse and take on a different appearance, holding each
shape for a limited time but all the while captivating to the listener, like the sky
when you witness the phenomenon of mother of pearl clouds. The music is
moving and restrained, sometimes growing in force then retracting, but never
with elements that break the conformity of the entire composition. In this way,
Celer have produced an indispensable collection of ambient soundscapes that
flow seamlessly and would be ideal for home listening as a supplement to
relaxation. If you are looking for an ambient album from 2008, look no further
than Nacreous Clouds on the influential and/OAR label. (Trym)
FURTHERNOISE (APRIL 2009)
Nacreous Clouds is a depiction of forms that drape themselves in the winter
across the skies of the polar North. These clouds get sunlight from below the
horizon and reflect it to the ground, radiant before dawn or after dusk. 37 short
tracks of iridescent ambience reflect their inner life, mercurial nature reflected
in their evanescence. Sounds drawn from life (showers, running water, TV
static, wind, cars, gravel streets) and instruments (cello, piano, bells) are
formed into mellifluous mother-of-pearl tonalities. A mimesis of cloud motions
in sound structures, filmy strata delicately unfurl, stretch and contract (see this
sequence), mirroring their tendency to reveal the wind and waves of the
stratosphere. Rawer than usual for this process-heavy pair, timbres are left
exposed (what? no reverb?!) to shine through undimmed - more innocent,
immediate. Possibly more affecting for this, Nacreous Clouds has the same
pleasingly tranquillizing effect as cloudwatching. (Alan Lockett)
Nacreous Clouds is a depiction of forms that drape themselves in the winter
across the skies of the polar North. These clouds get sunlight from below the
horizon and reflect it to the ground, radiant before dawn or after dusk. 37 short
tracks of iridescent ambience reflect their inner life, mercurial nature reflected
in their evanescence. Sounds drawn from life (showers, running water, TV
static, wind, cars, gravel streets) and instruments (cello, piano, bells) are
formed into mellifluous mother-of-pearl tonalities. A mimesis of cloud motions
in sound structures, filmy strata delicately unfurl, stretch and contract (see this
sequence), mirroring their tendency to reveal the wind and waves of the
stratosphere. Rawer than usual for this process-heavy pair, timbres are left
exposed (what? no reverb?!) to shine through undimmed - more innocent,
immediate. Possibly more affecting for this, Nacreous Clouds has the same
pleasingly tranquillizing effect as cloudwatching. (Alan Lockett)
SENTIREASCOLTARE (JANUARY 2009)
Trentasette micro frammenti lunghi poco meno o poco più di 2-3 minuti
sintetizzano il simbiotico unisono della coppia Danielle Bagìquet-Long / Will
Long, in arte Celer.Dichiarate propensioni ambient che in Nacreous clouds
trovano spunto per far dialogare elementi atmosferici in matrici
elettroacustiche.
Parliamo delle nubi madreperlacee, fenomeno noto nelle regioni artiche, legato
alle rigide temperature invernali che si raggiungono nella stratosfera polare ad
altitudini di 15,000–25,000 metri.A causa dell’altitudine e della curvature della
superficie terrestre queste nubi ricevono la luce del sole al di sotto dell’
orizzonte per poi rifletterlo sulla Terra.
S'incontrano tracce d’un malinconico naturalisno romantico, che prendono
consistenza nelle vaporee identità tonali di improvvisi lamenti elettrostatici.
Paradigmi d’eccellente sensibilità intrappolano l’atmosfera percettiva delle
sfumature madreperlacee che diventano motivo di dibattito su tematiche tanto
care alla musica minimale del dopoguerra.
Se volessimo parlare di influenze citeremmo i musicisti-scenziati alla Toshiya
Tsunoda, la ricerca sulle ombre sonore, il concetto di “ecologia-sonora”,
“musica invisibile”, senza dimenticare gli studi ormai classici legati al periodo
post-werbiano del puntualismo, o le contemporanee affinità di Mark Fell.Ma
non è questo il punto.
Piuttosto stupisce l’organica architettura di fondo che trama per 78 minuti
celando fonti analogiche e digitali abilmente plasmate in laptop, tagli, filtri e
field-recording senza perdere di vista il filo conduttore.Quel filo conduttore che
si fa portavoce d’estetiche e organiche letture ambientali, rappresentando al
meglio la mutevole identità di una nuvola e dei suoi fondali in colore.Una delle
migliori opere del duo, sicuramente un raro esempio di poesia sonora.
(Guillermo Escudero)
Trentasette micro frammenti lunghi poco meno o poco più di 2-3 minuti
sintetizzano il simbiotico unisono della coppia Danielle Bagìquet-Long / Will
Long, in arte Celer.Dichiarate propensioni ambient che in Nacreous clouds
trovano spunto per far dialogare elementi atmosferici in matrici
elettroacustiche.
Parliamo delle nubi madreperlacee, fenomeno noto nelle regioni artiche, legato
alle rigide temperature invernali che si raggiungono nella stratosfera polare ad
altitudini di 15,000–25,000 metri.A causa dell’altitudine e della curvature della
superficie terrestre queste nubi ricevono la luce del sole al di sotto dell’
orizzonte per poi rifletterlo sulla Terra.
S'incontrano tracce d’un malinconico naturalisno romantico, che prendono
consistenza nelle vaporee identità tonali di improvvisi lamenti elettrostatici.
Paradigmi d’eccellente sensibilità intrappolano l’atmosfera percettiva delle
sfumature madreperlacee che diventano motivo di dibattito su tematiche tanto
care alla musica minimale del dopoguerra.
Se volessimo parlare di influenze citeremmo i musicisti-scenziati alla Toshiya
Tsunoda, la ricerca sulle ombre sonore, il concetto di “ecologia-sonora”,
“musica invisibile”, senza dimenticare gli studi ormai classici legati al periodo
post-werbiano del puntualismo, o le contemporanee affinità di Mark Fell.Ma
non è questo il punto.
Piuttosto stupisce l’organica architettura di fondo che trama per 78 minuti
celando fonti analogiche e digitali abilmente plasmate in laptop, tagli, filtri e
field-recording senza perdere di vista il filo conduttore.Quel filo conduttore che
si fa portavoce d’estetiche e organiche letture ambientali, rappresentando al
meglio la mutevole identità di una nuvola e dei suoi fondali in colore.Una delle
migliori opere del duo, sicuramente un raro esempio di poesia sonora.
(Guillermo Escudero)
